Twice as many pensioners are being declared bankrupt compared with five years ago, a new report claims.

The study comes as another report claims ageism is still "endemic" in the workplace a year after new legislation was introduced to tackle age discrimination.

According to accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy, around 7% of all people going bankrupt in 2007 were retired, up from just 3% in 2002.

In recent weeks, Age Concern Scotland has warned that pensioners with mortgages still to be paid were being pushed into poverty, while trying to cope with financial dependents was also contributing towards the relentless rise in elderly debt.

Scottish Widows puts the figure for the UK's pensioner debt at £57bn.

The new report, which focuses on England and Wales and has been released to coincide with International Day of Older People, warns the trend in bankruptcies is set to continue as increased life expectancy puts a greater strain on the limited savings pensioners had, while rises in food and fuel prices put their finances under further pressure.

It also claims that increasing numbers of pensioners were unable to continue meeting their debt repayments once their incomes fell when they retired.

Keith Stevens, insolvency partner at Wilkins Kennedy, said: "More and more pensioners are going bankrupt as they struggle to repay debts when their pension is their sole source of income.

"Although attitudes towards bankruptcy have changed dramatically since the days of debtors' prisons the older generation still feel the stigma of bankruptcy and are reluctant to ask for help until it is too late.

"At the same time they are often unused to being offered high levels of credit and may take on unmanageable levels of debt without considering how they will make repayments when their income falls back on retirement."

The group found there was a higher than expected concentration of bankruptcies in rural areas.

It said this may be because pensioners there were unable to save on private transport costs by using free public transport, while there were also fewer opportunities for them to take on part-time work.

Meanwhile, the Employers' Forum on Age said almost two out of three workers had witnessed ageist behaviour in the past 12 months, only slightly less than the year before.

A survey of 1000 workers showed awareness of the new law was widespread, with almost nine out of 10 knowing it was illegal to discriminate on the grounds of age.

Links